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Stakeholder Analysis
I have experienced and witnessed many ethical dilemmas which have made impacted my own ethical decision-making in life. An ethical dilemma is best defined as a decision-making problem between two possible moral imperatives . One dilemma in particular that I would like to share involves my aunt facing a serious ethical decision in her workplace. My aunt is a social worker and a fundamental part of her job is ethical awareness. As we know social workers are supposed to maintain confidentiality regarding intimate details about clients who use their services, but there are exceptions to these guidelines especially when it poses a threat to society or themselves. Another important factor social workers need to acknowledge is their own accountability for their actions towards their clients their colleagues, the professional association, and to the law. A social worker must display integrity by not abusing the relationship of trust with clients while recognizing the boundaries between personal and professional life. As you can imagine social workers face ethical dilemmas on a day-to-day basis when dealing with peoples personal problems. The ethical dilemma which my aunt faced was when she was working with 9-year-old Klaudia, her older Gena who is her present guardian, and her mother, Natalia. Klaudia had been taken away from her mother and placed in the custody of the sister because the mother was abusing drugs and obviously neglecting her motherly duties. After a year, the mother completed rehab and stayed clean while living on her own. Not only was she sober in her own apartment she also had a steady job working as a cashier at Shop Right. My aunt has been working with this family for over 2 years which created a strong relationship within the family. Everything was going great with this family until one of the meet-ups Natalia had with my aunt. Natalia confessed that she made a mistake by taking drugs again the weekend prior. She confessed to my aunt about the situation because they have developed a strong relationship over the years and Natalia needed to confide in my aunt. She admitted she was wrong and promised not to do it again while begging my aunt not to tell the judge. Natalia also stressed the importance of seeing her younger daughter and hopes in getting her back and if she couldnt see her again, she would use drugs again. My aunt understood that she made a mistake and believed that this has been the only relapse she had. My aunt also believed that she would never put her daughter at any risk or danger by being under the influence of drugs or alcohol during her visits. However, under the code of ethics in her job requirements, she is required to document what Natalia has confessed and to seek supervisory advice, even if it meant Natalia losing her right to see her daughter again. My aunt also had to consider the risk of losing her job if she did not properly document the drug abuse. In conclusion, my aunt knew she had to follow protocol and report Natalia taking drugs. The possibility she could do drugs again while taking care of her daughter was too great of a risk to take. In the end, my aunt believed by reporting Natalias drug use was not only morally right but also professionally the right thing to do. Not only did she consider the effects her decision would have on the mother, but also the effects on Klaudia. Although my aunt had a trusting relationship with this family, she felt if she hadnt reported Natalia, she would be dishonest towards her work as a social worker by violating agency policies and keeping valuable information that could have potentially hurt a little girl. I personally believe my aunt made her decision ethically while keeping the best interests of everyone involved in mind. She may have lost Natalias trust on top of losing her as a client, but at least my aunt acted in full accordance with both legal proceedings and agency policies.
There were many different stakeholders affected by this decision. Most importantly, the family was affected in different ways (Natalia, Klaudia, and her older sister Gena). My aunts agency and their employees. Other stakeholders that were affected by this outcome are me, my family, and those we had told the story to I truly believe that the decision my aunt made was the right outcome. Utilitarianism is that an action is right if it results in the happiness of the greatest number of people in a society or a.
The stakeholders in my Ethical Dilemma are:
- My aunt
- Suzan
- Gena
- Klaudia
- My aunts employees
- And my family
- My aunts family
Through the lens of utilitarianism, my aunt should have considered all the consequences that her decision would bring. She also has to pick the decision not only that brings the minimum negative consequences but that brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people.
Based on my aunts decision, I believe that she followed the Utilitarian approach most when making the final decision. Her decision produced the greatest balance of good over harm. I also believe that my aunt represented the rule utilitarianism approach in her decision-making in deciding whether the implementation of an action, as a rule, would be beneficial to society by following her agency policy and rules. She had to deal with consequences while reducing the harm her outcome would have on the family, her job, and her employer representing the utilitarian approach. She had to consider the common conditions that are important to the welfare of everyone in the common good approach. Also, we see that there are other factors besides her own feelings about the situation that was important in the outcome. Another element is how Natalia admitted that she was wrong and promised not to do it again while begging my aunt not to tell the judge. Her decision not to do drugs anymore is very positive and brings enthusiasm to everyone. For Klaudia and Gena as far as safety concerns were, the outcome was great. The mother must feel betrayed but at least she can continue to get help and her health is being cared for. My aunts other employees in the agency were affected by this decision as far as being able to trust my aunt and making sure that each employee follows the rules and different policies. All her staff was trained properly, and they would be competent to do their job which would make everything run smoothly. When everyone does their job and works in a team it creates a positive ambiance and also makes work easier. Other stakeholders that were affected by this story are me, my family, and other people who know about this story. It affected me as I now think of the difficult decision my own aunt made when I am faced with an ethical dilemma and how in the end, my decision will ultimately affect many people. My family and other people around us have now understood the importance of ethics whether in the workplace. By using the utilitarian approach, not only were the conditions of the family important but also following the law and considering the welfare of others who may be affected by not reporting the mothers drug use. In this case, its possible that my aunt didnt want to betray the trust of her client on a personal level and deal with feelings of guilt if Natalia relapses into consistent drug use as a result of her losing the right to see her child. These factors could have prevented my aunt from making the best decision, but she ultimately looked beyond her personal feelings and what was best for just one individual. If my aunt didnt follow the policy of documenting Natalias drug abuse to not feel guilty about it later and to not betray her trust, then she would have portrayed ethical egoism, only acting in her own self-interest. I am a huge supporter of the utilitarian approach when it comes to making ethical decisions, especially this one. I think its important to do whats best for the common good and reduce as much harm as possible when you are put in an ethical dilemma such as mine.
However, in the lens of deontology that wouldve been an erroneous decision to make. This is because according to deontological ethics, my aunts obligation as the decision-maker is to follow a series of rules to differentiate right from wrong rather than considering all the consequences and the happiness of all of those who could be affected by her decision. If my aunt was to use deontology ethics to make my decision, she would have to stay loyal to her friendship with Natalia. If my aunts decision was based on her own personal self-interest to avoid feeling guilty about the effects on just the mother, she would have represented ethical egoism. If my aunt didnt follow the policy of documenting Natalias drug abuse to not feel guilty about it later and to not betray her trust, then she would have portrayed ethical egoism by acting in her own self-interest. Personally, I believe that if my aunt would have based her decision on ethical egoism, I will consider that as a wrong one. I think making a decision based on universal rules is hard because everyone can prioritize and interpret these rules differently. I think, my aunts loyalty to Natalias friendship could conflict with her loyalty to herself and not being truthful when she is asked about a certain matter. It would also conflict with the fairness of my aunt to other coworkers by being an example for everyone that works for her. It wouldnt be fair to them to hide what Natalia is doing wrong to keep as a secret.
I think that only utilitarianism ethics was part of my decision. However, I think utilitarianism is reflected more than deontology. In this situation, I dont believe there was any way my aunts organization could prevent the situation. My aunt followed the agency policy and did what she needed to do as far as documenting the information and reporting it to her supervisors. I think the decision she made was mutually beneficial to both her organization and her job position. She has excelled in her organization and has a great reputation within the organization because of this dilemma. She can use this experience as a reminder when faced with other ethical dilemmas she may encounter. She can now not only think of how the decision will benefit the stakeholders involved but also how it may benefit herself, for example, her position in the organization. It was definitely a learning experience for her and her co-workers. Even though it used to be a learning experience for them, it was also one that helped me learn as well which is why I chose this as an example for my analysis. I am a very sympathetic and warm-hearted person so when I am put in an ethical dilemma or situation where my feelings would be affected as well in the outcome, I can use this situation to help guide me and move forward in any ethical dilemmas I may face in the future.
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